Quay.

I once read an amusing quote somewhere that said, ” Why is a birthday cake the only food you can blow on and spit on and everyone rushes to get a piece?”. Birthdays are always good excuses to be spoiled by others, do the things that make you happy and of course, to eat more cake.

I was actually was very busy leading up to my birthday week, but i was lucky enough to have such luck with my last minute preparations.I managed to book a lunch at Quay on the day of my actual birthday and we were very lucky to secure a spot as we had only booked two weeks prior to the occasion.

For our first time we considered going with the tasting menu however we decided to choose the a la carte four course instead as we wanted to try out the famous eight textured chocolate cake.

Our meal began with a serving of sourdough and an amuse bouche. We were off to a strong start because if the amuse bouche was a dish you could order, it would’ve been my favourite savoury course.  The amuse bouche came as a delicious warm broth consisting of a creamy spoonful of potato puree topped with a real truffle piece. The flavours were so intense and fragrant from both the broth and truffle, one small cup was definitely not enough.

Course One

Congee of Northern Australian mud crab, fresh palm heart, egg yolk emulsion.

Fragrant poached chicken, radish, sea scallops, pea blossoms, smoked white eggplant cream served with virgin sesame oil.

Course Two

Squab and Abalone, rare cultivated greens, fresh jersey milk curd, anchovy and seaweed broth.

An array of mushrooms with roasted chestnut cream, brioche porridge, truffle and chestnut floss. (Vegetarian version of the gently braised patridge)

Course Three

Hapuka, potato cream, mullet roe, mountain spinach, crisp white lentils, petals

Berkshire pig jowl, maltose crackling, prunes and cauliflower cream perfumed with prune kernel oil.

Course Four

I’m not a big sweet tooth and usually prefer savoury dishes, but for this occasion i was most excited for the final dessert course. I have heard a lot of praise about Quay’s signature desserts but i wanted to see for myself whether it would live up to expectations.

Raspberry and vanilla snow egg.

For a first time at Quay, this was a must order and i was so pleasantly surprised because it exceeded my expectations. The raspberry granita was so deliciously refreshing with the natural sour taste perfectly balancing out the sweet richness of the vanilla bean icecream and meringue.

Eight texture chocolate cake.

I might be part of the minority, but unfortunately i don’t usually like chocolate cake. I tend to find it too heavy and rich especially in a large amount, but very little words were exchanged eating this cake because it was that good. Every spoonful of it.

On my birthday I left Quay feeling very satisfied because i enjoyed every part of the experience. Sometimes, I find that what defines food as “good” can be quite subjective because everyone likes to eat different things but i think the majority will definitely agree that Quay is worth the visit.

E i l e e n.